Recommendations for a 10Gb network card?

miggins · 08-02-2013, 04:40 PM

Hi,
I'd like to get a 10 gigabit network card that works with Ubuntu 12.10 (kernel 3.5.0) out of the box, so ideally no manual installation of any extra drivers; all driver support should already exist in the kernel. It needs to use multimode fibre (no copper or single mode fibre), have a PCI-E interface and ideally two ports. Any recommendations (and equally, what to avoid) gratefully received.
Thx

Ser Olmy · 08-02-2013, 09:19 PM

Look for a NIC with dual SFP+ slots. Then just get the appropriate SFP+ modules for your fibre infrastructure.

The following dual SFP+ adapters all work in Linux:

Broadcom 57810S (bnx2x driver)
Myricom 10G-PCIE2-8B2-2S (myri10ge driver)
Intel 82599, X520-DA2/82599EB, X540-T2 (ixgbe/ixgbevf driver)

The Intel chips are used in a number of OEM NICs from Dell and IBM (and probably others).